Resilient ZnO nanowires in an irradiation environment: An in situ study
Resilient ZnO nanowires in an irradiation environment: An in situ study
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DOI：
10.1016/j.actamat.2015.05.003
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发表时间：
2015-08
期刊：
影响因子：
9.4
通讯作者：
Cheng Sun;B. Uberuaga;L. Yin;Jin Li;Youxing Chen;M. Kirk;Meimei Li;S. Maloy;H. Wang;
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Cheng Sun;B. Uberuaga;L. Yin;Jin Li;Youxing Chen;M. Kirk;Meimei Li;S. Maloy;H. Wang;
氧化锌纳米线 (NW) 已被广泛研究用于各种设备应用。尽管人们常常怀疑这些纳米线在恶劣的辐射环境下不实用且高度不稳定，但迄今为止，人们对它们的辐射耐受性知之甚少。在这里，我们通过在室温下在透射电子显微镜内进行原位Kr离子辐照，展示了ZnO NW的出色弹性。我们的研究表明，由于位错环裸露区的存在，具有一定直径的 ZnO 纳米线几乎不受辐射损伤。显着的尺寸效应也成立：纳米线直径越小，缺陷密度越低。速率理论模型表明，尺寸效应是由快速间隙迁移和间隙环可以生长的尺寸限制引起的。原位研究还揭示了一个令人惊讶的现象：原始棱柱环可以压倒已知最强的缺陷汇、自由表面，以捕获辐射引起的缺陷簇。这项研究是深入了解极端环境下电子设备应用的功能性氧化物纳米线辐射响应的关键第一步。
ZnO nanowires (NWs) have been extensively studied for various device applications. Although these nanowires are often suspected to be impractical and highly unstable under hostile radiation environments, to date little is known on their radiation tolerance. Here, we show outstanding resilience of ZnO NWs by usingin situKr ion irradiation at room temperature inside a transmission electron microscope. Our studies show that ZnO nanowires with certain diameters become nearly immune to radiation damage due to the existence of dislocation loop denuded zones. A remarkable size effect also holds: the smaller the nanowire diameter, the lower the defect density. Rate theory modeling suggests that the size effect arises from fast interstitial migration and a limit in size to which interstitial loops can grow.In situstudies also revealed a surprising phenomenon: the pristine prismatic loops can prevail over the strongest known defect sinks, free surfaces, to trap radiation-induced defect clusters. This study comprises the first critical step toward in-depth understanding of radiation response of functional oxide nanowires for electronic device applications in extreme environments.